The intent of this COMPETITIVE CONTINUATION PROPOSAL for the MARC U*STAR is to continue to strengthen our present program, provide a quality education through cross-disciplinary science curricula and research training to highly capable minority undergraduates in order to enable them to successfully pursue doctoral degrees in biomedical research. The junior/senior MARC Honors program is centered in the departments of Biological Sciences and the Physical Sciences (biochemistry, chemistry and mathematics). This proposal also contains a Pre-MARC component as it is deemed critical in preparing our POOL of well qualified, academically strong, research oriented students for our MARC U*STAR Program. The four-year program will include, but not be limited to the following: [unreadable] [unreadable] 1. implementation of a cross-disciplinary, math intensive curriculum to better prepare our Trainees for the various fields in biomedical research. [unreadable] 2. participation in intramural & extramural research to provide role models, research training, networking and experience in the proper conduct of research [unreadable] 3. mentoring and career guidance to increase the number of Trainees who are successful in pursuing graduate degree programs in biomedical research [unreadable] 4. integration of proven strategies that will enable our MARC trainees to become stronger independent learners, improve their scientific reading, writing & communication skills [unreadable] 5. preparation for our Trainees through a four-year focused test-taking model to enable a stronger performance on the MCAT/GRE exams [unreadable] 6. presentation of a Speakers Series to broaden research knowledge, role modeling and career options [unreadable] 7. development of electronic personal portfolios to monitor Trainee expertise in independent learning habits, professional presentations and interview skills [unreadable] 8. establish a Science/Math Center focused on collaborative problem solving & mentoring [unreadable] [unreadable] While ambitious, this program will offer our Pre-MARC and MARC U*STAR Trainees the challenges and support that will enable them to develop into qualified biomedical researchers. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]